Deck the Halls
by hmweasley
Summary: On their first Christmas living together, Magnus decides to decorate his and Alec's apartment to an extent that he hasn't bothered with in a very long time.


**A/N: I've already posted my story from the Malec Secret Santa exchange, but I was also a back up gifter. This was written for someone, but then their original gifter appeared at the literal last minute, meaning this wasn't posted as part of that exchange. I decided to post it anyway, since it was already written. Maybe it's a little late for Christmas, but I went to Catholic school, so I can obnoxiously tell you that Christmas doesn't really end until the Epiphany anyway.**

Magnus' interest in holidays came and went over the centuries. Some years, he would throw himself completely into any and all holidays, whether they were celebrated where he currently called home or not. Other years, he'd ignore them even if there were lights plastered on every building.

At times, he'd fluctuated between Ebenezer Scrooge and Fred as frequently as year to year.

For the past three years, though, Magnus had stayed at the Fred end of the Christmas spectrum. It was far easier to get into that ever so exalted "Christmas spirit" with Alec in his life. Even when his boyfriend wasn't as enthusiastic as he was.

This year was the first year where they'd be living together over the holiday, and it had created in Magnus an even stronger drive to make the atmosphere of their loft as Christmas-y as he could manage. He was sure that Alec could have cared less, but he'd, nonetheless, gotten it into his mind that it was for his boyfriend, not himself, and he was excited to have a surprise to reveal when Alec came home.

He went as far as to do some recruiting, sending out text messages to those friends he trusted not to blab, but of course, these were Magnus' friends, and when the doorbell rang only twice, he couldn't say he was surprised.

Well, he was a _little_ surprised when it was Simon on the other side of the door on the second ring.

He was quick to raise an eyebrow at the young vampire, and Simon wasted no time launching into the explanation that he knew the warlock wanted.

"I pissed off Raphael somehowーthere were threatsーand then Izzy messaged me and was like, 'You know what would be great? Helping Magnus decorate his apartment.' She's not coming. Something about training, she said, but I figured, why not? What Jewish vampire doesn't want to spend his Thursday afternoon hanging tinsel?"

He paused for a second, brow furrowing. Before Magnus could speak through his amusement, Simon added, "Is there tinsel? Because I've always hated that stuff. It sticks to everything."

He shuddered.

"I may have some tinsel," Magnus said simply, stepping aside so that Simon could enter the apartment.

Though he would never have said as much, he was pleased to see Simon. He'd grown rather fond of the boy over the years, and he, as evidenced by his presence, was one of the more helpful friends that Magnus could currently attest to having.

"Catarina!" Simon exclaimed happily once he'd entered the living room and seen the woman lounging on the couch. "You're here too?"

Catarina openly laughed.

"You thought no one else would take pity on Magnus when he could so easily snap his fingers and have this whole place decorated with very little effort?"

Magnus pouted.

"Where's the magic in that?" he asked.

"But that would literally be—"

Magnus held up his hand, and Simon fell quiet.

"Not that kind of magic," Magnus allowed.

He snapped his fingers, and a large box full of every color of tinsel imaginable appeared on the floor at Simon's feet.

"Let's get going," Magnus said, taking great pleasure in the distaste Simon was showing the box. "We only have so much time."

XXX

It took three hours before Magnus was satisfied with the look of the apartment. By that point, Simon had collapsed on the couch with a glass of blood in his hands as compensation for his labor. He was still grumbling about the magic Magnus and Catarina had used to aid them while he'd had no choice but to hang his allotted tinsel the "old fashioned way."

Catarina had given up on him soon after Simon had, retaking her own place on the couch while managing to look as elegant as always. She and Simon shared stories, of what Magnus wasn't sure as his attention remained focused on straightening everything just so.

"You know, he's not going to notice."

When Magnus finally registered the words that had been said to him, he turned to find Simon and Catarina both watching him. Each of them were amused, but only Simon looked confused. It had been him who had spoken, Magnus realized.

"Alec," Simon clarified. "I'd be surprised if he realizes this place is decorated for Christmas."

Magnus rolled his eyes.

"I think you're underestimating the head of the New York Institute's observation skills a little there, Lewis."

"I didn't mean that he wouldn't notice things had changed," Simon clarified, looking miffed at being misunderstood. "I just mean that you change this place up so frequently that he probably won't think of this as any different than all the other times he's come home to something new."

"Who said I was doing this purely for Alec's sake?"

"You _have_ been going on about making it perfect for him under your breath," Catarina informed him, smirk firmly in place on her lips.

Magnus scoffed, though he felt his cheeks heat up ever so slightly. He hadn't realized he'd been uttering anything as he'd kept up his internal monologue. Perhaps Catarina had only guessed and was now trying to get him to confess. He wouldn't fall for such a trick.

"I'm serious," he said, and he was, though there were elements of truth to what they were saying. "This year I wanted to to envelope myself in the holiday spirit. That's what this is about."

Simon nodded in acceptance, but Catarina continued to watch him with a grin that he did not appreciate.

"I believe we're done here," Magnus declared, clapping his hands together. "Alexander will be here soon, so…"

He motioned towards the door. Catarina gave a chuckle and stood, smoothing out her dress as she did so. With a snap of her fingers, a portal appeared. She waved goodbye to both of them, told Simon not to stay out of touch too long this time, and disappeared.

Simon remained on the couch, looking thoughtful. Magnus raised one eyebrow in his direction.

"What?"

"In return for the tremendous help I've been today, would you want to help me decorate for Hanukkah this year? That's actually really impressive."

He motioned to the fireplace mantle, which Magnus had been particularly proud of, but Magnus didn't follow Simon's gaze as his nose wrinkled in abject horror.

"You plan on decorating that shed?"

Simon took personal offense to this, finally standing.

"I'll have you know that that shed is warm and cozy, and after three years, I've spruced the place up, which you would know if you bothered to stop by and visit."

"Why would I do that when you're always showing up here?"

With a sigh and no answer, Simon left, offering Magnus a small wave and, despite his comment, a smile. Magnus made a mental note to pop by Simon's place the next day and decorate his shed however he saw fit.

He glanced at the clock. There was still a bit of time before Alec got home. He pulled out a pad of paper and began scribbling down ideas.

XXX

Magnus had gone into a frenzy of creativity. He'd moved from scribbling down notes to practicing some simple charms he could use in Simon's...house, of sorts.

The sound of the front door opening wasn't enough to rouse him from his focus, but Alec saying his name was.

He looked up, face immediately breaking into a large smile, to see his boyfriend watching him with an amused smirk.

"What's with all of the blue and white?"

He motioned at the samples Magnus had been creating. They littered the desk, turning it into a mess that was difficult to make sense of.

"They're Hanukkah colors," was Magnus' only explanation as he snapped his fingers and what had once been a rather plain-looking decoration was suddenly covered in silver glitter.

"Hanukkah," Alec repeated slowly, thinking.

He looked around at the apartment, observing the decorations that surrounded them in more detail.

 _Shit_ , Magnus thought suddenly. All that work put into the apartment, and he'd gotten so caught up in Simon's decorations that he'd forgotten to take in Alec's initial reaction.

He stood, letting the wall hanging he'd been working on fall to the table, sprinkling the wooden surface with its own ample supply of glitter.

"I decorated," he said, trying to pull off the same confident reveal that he'd been planning before he'd become distracted.

"For Christmas, yeah." Alec turned back to him with a smile. "I can tell."

He glanced around theatrically.

"There aren't any Hanukkah decorations actually up in here though."

Magnus pursed his lips in thought.

"This," he waved his hand over the desk he'd been working at, "is for Simon."

Alec hummed in understanding, taking several steps towards Magnus. Magnus let his boyfriend wrap his arms around him, fitting himself against him easily.

"How nice of you," he remarked. "He doesn't deserve it."

Magnus allowed himself a small chuckle.

"Don't tell me you're still upset about that?"

"He cheated," Alec remarked, tone defensive. "I don't know how, but somehow, he did."

Magnus stretched his neck to peck Alec on the lips.

"Perhaps you should accept that someone else also has a bit of talent with the bow and arrow."

"No," Alec replied instantaneously. "I don't buy that summer camp story. You don't learn archery at some dinky summer camp in the middle of nowhere. Not _real_ archery."

"Dinky," Magnus repeated in amusement, causing Alec to blush.

"Can we forget about Simon?"

"Gladly," Magnus said, going in for another kiss.

Everyone else effectively forgotten about for the rest of the night.


End file.
